The power of language: What do “family policing” and “child and family well-being” mean?
Shifting our thinking, shifting our language
West Coast LEAF has been working and learning in the area known as “child welfare” or “child protection” for several years. As we have taken up this work, we have been privileged to learn from families, Nations, and advocates in BC and beyond, who have generously shared their wisdom with us.
As part of our learning journey, we have been reflecting on the power of language to name and describe what is known as the “child welfare system.” Family policing scholar and advocate Dorothy Roberts has advocated for people to challenge their framing and language to accurately reflect the system’s harms.
Through this learning and reflection, our organization has found a more appropriate term to name this system: family policing system. We use this term to describe how the system maintains power and control over the lives of families and children—most often Indigenous families and children— through surveillance, regulation, and punishment.
We are using the term child and family well-being system to name what we are calling for in place of the family policing system. This is a broad term that encompasses different frameworks, such as social determinants of health and Indigenous determinants of health. A child and family well-being system would involve resourcing and supporting children, youth, families, communities, and Nations to thrive according to their own wholistic understanding of well-being, without interference from the family policing system.
In this document, we share resources that have shaped our thinking and language shift, including key actions and reports in BC calling for Indigenous self-determination for the care and well-being of Indigenous children, youth, families, communities and Nations.
